


System Shock

by EnmaFire



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Mild Horror, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-01-26 13:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1690277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnmaFire/pseuds/EnmaFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Audrey's time working at Mr. Litwak's arcade has been great. It's funny how everything can change with one little electric shock. Now she's trapped and desperate for a way out, but with Ralph around she may not want to go back home. Will their budding friendship turn into more? And what about the way her reflection glitches to someone else's face?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Mr. Litwak’s arcade had always been a long-standing icon in his small town. It was a place for children and adults alike to let go of the troublesome world outside the glass double-doors in favor of virtual one, a world where with a pocket stuffed with quarters, they could escape for an hour or so and just be free. For over thirty years the bright lights and neon signs of this small-town getaway shone like a beacon, guiding the way for both the old and young of heart, leading them to a simpler place where the most one had to worry about was if the arcade’s kindhearted owner would run out of quarters today. When Mr. Litwak opened his arcade doors to allow his awaiting customers inside, he became a symbol of sanctuary for wandering and troubled souls, a knight in shining armor ready to lend an ear for listening, or a shoulder to cry on, or even just an extra quarter so you could play that one game you had been looking foreword to all day.

But, as strong and everlasting a symbol Mr. Litwak may have appeared to be, he could not forever fight against time. His hair had begun to turn gray and then white until finally it had started to disappear completely. His wrinkled hands had begun to shake as he handed out change and his old bones could no longer last through a day of playing sentry. And so appeared in the window of Litwak’s Arcade something no one had ever thought to see: a Help Wanted sign. 

Interviews came and went as applicant after applicant was turned down by the arcade’s owner. Mr. Litwak had watched many of those turned away grow up in his arcade, but no matter how close he had been to them in their youth, people changed over time. Though Mt. Litwak had watched Michael Kingston transition from boyhood into his teenage years, he also knew that he stole his father’s cigarettes and booze, and Mr. Litwak just could not trust him to keep his pockets empty, nor his head clear. Little Suzie Meyer was known to be horrible with kids, if one were to believe the children she had babysat, and her brother Kevin was hardly passing school as it was, heaven forbid if he were to add work on top of everything else. Jonathan Walker was out, and Casey Hudson, and Jessica Stewart, and Daniela Jones, and just about every other kid in town. For a while it seemed as if Mr. Litwak would never find an employee, and the Help Wanted sign continued to become sun bleached in its spot in the window, slowly gathering dust as a week, and then two weeks, and then finally a month had passed with no luck whatsoever until the day a new name appeared in the dwindling pile of résumés on Mr. Litwak’s desk. 

Mr. Litwak had never heard of the girl whose smiling face shone up at him from the attached headshot, but a couple of calls to her previous employers offered a bit of insight. She was a college graduate apparently looking for a job to hold down while she worked on a portfolio that might help her secure a future in game design. Though she had not personally lived in the town, she apparently had extended family living there, and a short conversation with them as well as her college professors and previous employers via email led Mr. Litwak to believe that she was hard working, trustworthy, and most definitely the right girl for the job.  
And so the Help Wanted sign was finally allowed to retire from its resting place in the window and a few days later Mr. Litwak’s customers were greeted at the door by a new face, one that over time Mr. Litwak hoped they would grow to love and trust as much as the town did him.

“Audrey!”

“Coming Mr. Litwak!”

“Well hurry, it’s almost time to open!”

“Hold your horses old man, I said I’m coming!”

With a laugh, Audrey slipped on her uniform orange vest and jogged over to where Mr. Litwak stood impatiently in front of the arcade’s doors. The elderly man threw his hands up in mock exasperation, eyes smiling kindly through the action.

“It’s not my fault you’re slower than molasses today,” he chuckled, wagging a finger at the younger girl good naturedly.

Audrey smiled, pulling back her flaming red hair back into a messy bun as she did so. “So sorry to have kept you waiting, my king,” she answered jokingly, giving her employer a small bow.

“Did you remember to stock the concessions,” asked Mr. Litwak, eyeing the girl in front of him.

Audrey rolled her pale blue eyes in response. “Yes, Mr. Litwak,” she droned.

“Did you check the bathrooms?”

Another eye roll. “Yes, Mr. Litwak.”

“And the change machines?”

Audrey sighed heavily before placing a comforting hand on the hold man’s shoulder. “Mr. Litwak,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “How long have I been working here?”

He thought for a moment before replying, “Almost a year.”

Audrey nodded absentmindedly. “That’s right. And out of all that time, has anything ever gone wrong during opening?”

The arcade owner cast a sheepish glance to the floor. “No,” he mumbled, feeling childish for his worries.

“Then stop worrying,” cried the girl, removing her hand from its place on his shoulder. “Everything will be fine,” she said. “Just like it is everyday. I promise.” 

With a kind smile, Audrey raised one of her hands to Mr. Litwak, who in turn hooked his fingers around hers in the standard thumb-war pose. But instead of battling with their digits, the two pumped their hands downwards once with the practice ease that often came with not-so-secret handshakes.

Laughing, the girl removed her hand from his and turned towards the arcade’s front doors, smiling kindly at the few people standing on the other side, waiting for the moment the doors would open.

“Come on, old man,” said Audrey, smile still stuck to her face, showing off the dimples on either side of her mouth. “Let’s get these doors open before they start a riot.”

With a chuckle, Mr. Litwak unlocked the glass doors and pulled one open, letting in the cool outside air. Audrey took the other door, mirroring his actions as they let in the day’s first customers. Holding the door open, the two greeted the people as they entered. Mr. Litwak cracked jokes as always and Audrey’s warm smile left a few of the teenage boys blushing as they hurried inside. The day had barely begun, but Audrey’s enthusiasm was as palpable as ever. Working at the arcade had its downsides, sure, but she really had no complaints.

No, that was wrong.

If Audrey Wilson was perfectly honest with herself, working at a local arcade was not where she had imagined herself being at age 28. In her dreams she had always figured she would be part of a successful company by now. She would have a good, steady job designing and working on new video games, maybe even engaged, or at least in a serious relationship. Her life was supposed to be at its high point right now, a plateau of contentment that would last well into her 50s and 60s. 

Instead, she was working full time at an arcade in some little no name town full of people she barely knew, even after living there for almost a year. 

Not that Audrey was unhappy, per say. Mr. Litwak was like family to her, and with her mother dead and her dad off with his horrible new second wife, he was all she really had besides a distant pair of cousins living in town. Her pay was good and her apartment could definitely be worse, and she very rarely had to struggle to make ends meet. She was doing a couple of side jobs with interested parties, sending digital art here, mailing originals there, and earning some extra cash on the side. Her portfolio was coming along nicely and her skills increasing every day. She was starting to flesh out some of her characters and concepts and maybe in a year or so she might be able to try approaching a bigger company than those she used to work with.

But as cliché as it seemed, Audrey kept wondering if maybe there was something more to her life than what it was now.


	2. Chapter 1

With a heavy sigh, Audrey cast another longing glance at the clock. She normally loved going to work, but today was just one of those days. One of the kids had spilt a soda in the bathroom, and cleaning up that sticky mess had not been on her to-do list for the day. Grimacing, the red head arched her back, feeling it give a satisfying crack as she did, and finally exited the now-clean bathroom, taking down the “Out of Service” sign and replacing it with a faded old “Caution: Wet Floor” one instead.

Shoulders slumped, the tired girl made her way back to the concessions stand Mr. Litwak had recently added to draw in more customers and cash. There, waiting at the counter, was the little boy that had spilled the drink to begin with. He looked up at her with guilty eyes, hands fidgeting in front of him as he titled his head up to see her face, her tall stature easily towering over him.

“Miss Audrey,” he called, visibly swallowing the nervous lump in his throat. Audrey was known amongst little Timothy’s fellow fourth graders as one of the sweetest girls in town, not that he liked girls or anything (besides his mom, but she wasn’t really a girl, was she?), and even if he did like girls, which he most certainly did not, it would be okay to like Audrey because she worked at an arcade and only cool people worked at arcades, and standing in front of the screens probably vaporized her cooties and everything so-

Timothy’s nervous gaze caught Audrey’s, her vibrant green eyes piercing through him like she could read his very thoughts. Swallowing again, the young boy tired his best to reconnect his thoughts.

“I’m real sorry for spilling that soda,” he told her, his baby blues glued to his scuffed up sneakers. 

Audrey wanted to be angry with him, but even on her worst days she could never yell at one of the arcade’s customers. They were just like her, their passion for all things video game drew them here like a moth to a flame. With a defeated sigh, she placed a pale hand on Timothy’s head, ruffling his dark hair.

“Look, it’s fine, no harm done,” she assured him, crouching down to meet his timid eyes. “How about you leave the soda up here on the counter with me next time, okay? I’ll even let you write your name on the cup so no one can take it.”

The guilt and sadness in Timothy’s eyes vanished almost immediately, and he gave Audrey a hug and a cry of ‘Thank you!’ before running back off into the carpeted jungle of the arcade.

Audrey stood back up, watching as Timothy vanished behind the Sugar Rush consoles. Her eyes drifted from game screen to game screen as she absentmindedly began to wipe down the already spotless counter. The bright lights of the games reflected back onto the faces of gamers, emphasizing their joy with blinding flashes. If there was one thing Audrey loved about the arcade, it was the variety. Mr. Litwak had every type of game, from 8-bit classics like Pac-Man and Fix-It Felix, Jr., to old school fighting games like Street fighter. In the corner an over enthusiastic duo of teenage girls were competing in a furious match of Dance Dance Revolution, and next to them a young boy was merrily tapping away on Guitar Hero. Yells and cheers came from across the arcade as two kids made their way into the final stages of Hero’s Duty and a small line had formed for Q*bert and Frogger.

A nostalgic smile wormed its way on to Audrey’s freckled face, her dimples forming little dips on either side of her pale pink lips. No matter how long her day might seem, it was worth it to keep the role of video games alive in peoples’ hearts. Being a die-hard gamer herself, it made her happy to see others enjoying the characters and stories she loved. Her green eyes caught those of Mr. Litwak as he too watched the arcade’s occupants. The older man gave her a wave, and Audrey sent one back with a laugh. As old as Mr. Litwak was on the outside, in his heart he would always remain a little kid.

The day dragged on, customers came and went, and after what felt like a lifetime, closing time finally made its way round. With a content sigh, Audrey let the bright orange vest slip from her shoulders as the last gamer of the night made his way out the front doors. The tired girl made her way into the back room, which was really just an old storage room that was big enough for Audrey to use for breaks. A lonely old plush chair sat in one corner, next to which sat an old set of lockers. Audrey could never figure out where exactly Mr. Litwak had found them, or the long counter lining one of the walls, but they served their purpose well. Grabbing her change of clothes from one of the lockers, she made her way over to the counter, watching her reflection in the mirror that hung over it (complete with a border of light bulbs, a feature that never failed to make her smile). Audrey changed quickly, putting the t-shirt and jeans she had been wearing earlier into her bag to be washed later. She pulled her hair lose of its bun in a shower of red and quickly braided it to lie over her left shoulder. Giving herself a once over, Audrey decided that she looked well enough before exiting.

Mr. Litwak was counting the cash in the concession stand’s register when she walked out. When he turned his head to speak to her, Audrey swore he almost dropped the stack of singles in his hand. 

Audrey stuck her arms out to the sides with a nervous grin, doing a little twirl. 

“How do I look,” she asked him, worrying her bottom lip.

Mr. Litwak blinked at her, taking in her outfit. In the almost-year that he had known Audrey, not once had she ever worn a skirt. But here she was, dressed up and with- was that makeup? The older man’s brain stopped for a moment as he took in his young employee’s outfit. A sheer, long sleeved button up shirt hung loosely off her thin frame, the tiny green polka dots contrasting the rest of the garment’s navy color. A high classic collar sat snug around her pale neck and Mr. Litwak could very obviously see the lacy undergarment (or bra, as any one else would call it) she wore underneath. Starting high on her waist was a mint skirt that stopped an inch or so above her knees, the fullness and style of it bringing him back to the 1950s. Around the top of the skirt was a thin yellow belt that was surely more for decoration than functionality, and her feet were clad in Oxford-style white and mint flats. 

Mr. Litwak gave a low whistle, before cracking a smile.

“So,” he drawled. “Who exactly is the lucky man?”

Immediately Audrey’s face flushed a bright pink. “Oh no, Mr. Litwak,” she stuttered out. “It’s nothing like that! I just thought I might go dancing or something tonight. See, there’s this new club that opened a couple towns over and all the girls have been going on and on about, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”

Her green eyes looked at anything but her boss, nervous fingers pulling at the hem of her skirt.

With a warm laugh, Mr. Litwak placed both of his hands on the girl’s shoulder. “You look gorgeous,” he said, smiling brightly. “Hell, if I were a year or two younger...”

He let the sentence trail off and the two of them shared a laugh. Audrey knew the old man was far from being serious, but the compliment helped gain back some of the confidence she has lost. It had taken all of her courage to go out and buy these new clothes. Throughout the entire ordeal she constantly felt like some one was going to stop her, as if lonely gamer girls that worked in arcades were not allowed to have such stylish clothing. 

Audrey opened her painted lips to thank her boss, but the man cut her off with a startled cry, staring at his watch in shock. In a flurry of movement, Mr. Litwak hurriedly tossed the arcade’s keys on the counter and grabbed his coat from the rack beside the front door.

“Someone must have a hot date,” joked Audrey, watching the elder man.

Mr. Litwak gave a small chuckle, picking the keys back up and handing them to the girl. “Not exactly,” he told her, slipping into his coat. “More like an auction for a Miss Pac-Man console in the next town over. I nearly forgot all about it, and if I don’t head out now I might be too late to register! You don’t mind locking up, do you Audrey?”

“No at all, Mr. Litwak,” replied Audrey, following him over to the front doors. “I’m not in any kind of rush, but you better move quickly, it looks like there might be a storm coming.”

Indeed, the sky above had turned an angry gray, heavy rainclouds rolling in overhead. The wind had picked up and Audrey could feel the electricity building in the air. Sure enough, a bolt of lightening cut through the sky in the distance, the loud rumbling of thunder, like an awakened lion, following shortly after. Mr. Litwak managed to hurry into his car just as the first fat drops fell to earth, waving goodbye to Audrey through his windshield wipers and pulling out of the parking lot. Audrey waved back, before heading back inside to lock up for the night.

The red headed woman stood in the center of the arcade, taking in the games around her. The screens cast a neon glow on to her skin, and in the quiet Audrey felt truly at peace, surrounded by the stories and characters that she had known all her life. Outside the sky opened up and let loose a torrent of heavy raindrops, thunder shattering through the pitter-patter against the roof, lightening illuminating the dark interior of the arcade with quick, blinding flashes.

With a glance out the window, Audrey decided her plans for the night could definitely wait, and the butterflies that had been dancing around in her stomach slowed down in agreement. It certainly would be dangerous to drive home in this weather, let alone to another town that she barely knew. As she headed back towards the back room to wait out the worse of the storm, she passed one of the many power strips giving life to the games, and noticed with a start that one of the wall plugs had started to spark. 

Audrey kneeled down for a closer look as the storm outside managed to become even worse, rain coming down in heavy sheets, incredibly loud compared to the silence of the arcade. The plug had slipped out of the socket slightly, little flashes of blue electricity jumping from the wall to the plug. 

Even as Audrey reached for the plug, a voice in the back of her mind whispered of danger. She should just get up and head back to wait out the rain, but the thought of a possible power surge compelled her to reach out. Her mind’s eye briefly saw an image of the arcade up in flames, the aftermath of a horrible electrical fire. 

Audrey’s pale hand grasped the plug, and at the same moment a streak of lightening slashed through the sky, striking the weathervane atop the arcade. Electricity jolted from the socket into the woman’s hand, racing up her arm, leaving a horrid tingling in its wake. Audrey’s vision grayed along the edges before going black, and her body falling limply into nothingness. She was already unconscious by the time her head cracked against the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Describing outfits has become a necessary evil in the writing world


	3. Chapter 2

Game Central Station was buzzing with activity, countless characters traveling from game to game in the after-hours hustle and bustle of the arcade’s secret digital world. Among the sea of countless faces walked Zangief, the legendary Red Tornado from the beloved Street Fighter franchise. The powerful man sighed softly as the crowed parted slightly to make way for him, though he had to take pleasure in the fact that the arcade’s ‘good guys’ no longer ran and hid at the sight of him. After the Cybug Incident, as many were calling it now, characters of the ‘evil’ persuasion we treated with less of a cold shoulder. However, they were not truly welcomed in to the ranks, and Zangief longed for the day he and his fellow villains would be welcomed with open arms.

The world outside was changing, Zangief knew this. Bad guys were becoming more and more popular with the gamers. In fact, the Russian man had heard more than a few girls on the other side of the screen fawning over him and some of the darker characters of his game. It made him proud, and put a little spring in his strong step as he made his way over to Tappers to meet up with a few of the others. Things may not be the way he hoped and dreamed, but he was content enough with his current ways.

Zangief passed through the main plaza of the central hub, glancing briefly at the recorded warnings of Sonic and the benches placed around for characters to rest and chat. Heavy feet slowed as they passed one of the said benches, staring curiously into the shadows beneath it. Within the inky depths, Zangief could have sworn he saw someone, or something, huddled under the bench, but with plenty of the arcade’s games now willing to shelter unplugged characters, he could think of no reason for a character to be forced to sleep in the middle of Game Central Station. 

Stepping closer, the big man crouched down, peering in to the darkness to dismiss his ridiculous notion, only to be thoroughly surprised to find he had been correct. Curled   
up on the hard floor was a young woman, though the darkness made it difficult to tell who it might be. Whoever it was, Zangief simply couldn’t let them stay there. His frequent trips to Bad Guy Anon had showed him that being programmed as bad did not mean he had to act badly, something he wished everyone could see. Still, if this mysterious girl was new to the arcade, she might react badly to being awakened by a villain. Zangief started to get up to find a hero to help him out, preferably from him own game, or maybe the little Fix-it man, but the figure beneath the bench chose that moment to give a groan, limbs twitching and eyes starting to open. 

 

Audrey felt consciousness begin to flow back in to her, eyelids fluttering open. For a moment there was only blinding light and loud noise, over powering her delicate senses. The world slowly came in to focus, and Audrey could feel the aching of her back and the pounding of her head. The floor beneath her felt cold, defiantly not like the old carpet of the arcade. Above her were little slots of light shining through what looked like wood, burning her sensitive eyes. Audrey turned her head to the side to shield them, but stopped before she could close them again. What she saw was definitely not the arcade. 

Countless feet shuffled across the unfamiliar floor, seeming to walk up and down the walls as Audrey lay on her side. A million conversations buzzed through her skull, making the pounding increase horribly. Panic rose in her chest, heart speeding up and palms beginning to sweat. She remembered Mr. Litwak asking her to lock up, remembered the storm and reaching to fix the sparking plug, but that was where it ended. What had happened after? Had she gone out dancing despite the weather? Had she drunken too much? Or worse, had she been drugged? Was she knocked out and used, and then tossed aside under some bench in the middle of no where in a city she was far from familiar with, only to had to find her way back to-

“Miss?”

Audrey’s racing thoughts froze at the call, listening to the heavily accented voice. Russian, her mind automatically supplied, unable to give anything truly useful at the moment.

“Would you like some help there, Miss?”

The voice again, male and thick. A large hand reached in to her field of vision, silently asking her to take it. Audrey did so shakily, feeling its calloused texture against her smooth skin. As she was pulled out in to the light, she noticed how it dwarfed her own hand, the tan skin standing in stark contrast to her own paleness. Audrey’s large jade eyes traveled up the attached arm, swallowing at its thickness. There were several large scars marring the tanned skin, and a distant thought tickled the back of her mind, whispering to her that she had seen those scars before. Audrey shook the thoughts away, eyes continuing their journey upwards, startled to find the man to be shirtless, a dark patch of hair adorning the center of his chiseled chest. That nagging little voice came back, but she once again pushed it away in order to thank the man properly, finally raising her eyes to catch his gaze. But as Audrey took in the man’s face, the words died on her tongue, morphing in to a high pitched scream that bubbled up painfully from her throat. 

Audrey jumped back from the man before her, snatching back her hand as if she had been burnt. The backs of her knees hit the edge of the bench, sending her sprawling on to it. Her breathing sped up harshly as she pushed her self as far against the back to the bench as she could, trying to melt in to is as her legs curled up towards her body for protection.

 

Zangief gave a tired sigh at the woman’s reaction, watching her fearful eyes dart around wildly. He definitely had not meant to frighten her, but such a terrified reaction seemed a bit hurtful, if not over the top. Predictably, most of Game Central Station had hushed at her scream, various characters stopping to stare at the scene that was forming. Zangief stepped back from the bench, holding his hands up to show what he meant no harm, but the woman continued to panic, mouth wide and chest heaving with her panicked breath. The large Russian looked around helplessly, desperate to find someone who would be less likely to frighten to poor girl further, when the woman in question seemed to begin to calm down a bit, her voice soft and shaking.

 

Audrey was sure she was going crazy as she watched the characters in front of her. With more effort than it should have taken, she lifted an arm in front of her, pointing a trembling finger towards the huge man before her. Her entire body was trembling, her spine digging painfully into the back of the bench. She opened and shut her mouth stupidly, thoughts racing but refusing to leave her tight throat. Audrey swallowed thickly, her mouth going dry as she forced the words out. 

“You’re Zangief,” she whispered dumbly, unable to manage anything more intelligent.

The man- no, the character, looked at her blankly.

“Zangief,” Audrey emphasized, “as in Street Fighter, as in the arcade game!”

Again, a blank look, but Audrey was too far gone by then to notice.

“That’s impossible,” she thought aloud, rambling softly to herself. “Zangief is a game character, he isn’t real, he’s made-up, a character. So I’m seeing game characters then, fantastic. I’m simply dreaming, though, I’ve got to be. I’ll just wake up then, it shouldn’t be that hard. What is it they always do in the films? They pinch themselves, yes, great, perfect.”

Audrey sat up straighter on the bench, breathing beginning to slow as she slid her eyes shut and gave herself a sharp pinch on the arm, praying that when she opened them again she would be awake and not stuck in some drug-induced coma forever. With a shaking breath, she slowly opened her eyes, and almost reverted back into hysterics. Zangief (Zangief!) was still staring at her, dumb-founded, and she was still very much not at home.

“I’m dead, aren’t I,” Audrey whispered, slumping down once more, staring at her shaking hands in her lap. “I’ve gone and died and this is my own personal hell, or heaven really, all things considered, but still, I’m dead. I grabbed that plug and I got electrocuted and now I’m completely and utterly dead.”

 

Zangief watched as the woman became more and more depressed. He could not being to imagine what game she was from, but it was painfully obvious the knowledge that she was, indeed, a game character was not written in her code. The large man coughed nervously, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“Perhaps you need to calm down,” he told her, meeting her emerald gaze. “I think you may be a little confused about what exactly is going on, and I’m sure a drink could do you some good as well.”

That grabbed the woman’s attention, her back straightening slightly and one brow rising toward her hairline. 

Zangief stuck out one of his large hands, a peace offering of sorts. “I believe a trip to Tapper’s may be in order, if you’ll accept. We’ll get you some food and try to sort things out.”

The woman bit her lip, eyes flitting from Zangief’s face to the outstretched hand. “What the hell,” she finally said, fitting her much smaller hand in to his, allowing him to help her up. “If I’m gonna be stuck here, might as well enjoy it.”

Zangief held back a roll of his eyes, this new girl was obviously going to be a tough case to crack, but still, she seemed like pleasant company. It was very rare for the giant Russian to hold conversations with non-bad guys, and despite his tendency for skull crushing, he really did see himself as a nice guy. This woman was lost and afraid, and something told him that she was very different from the other characters he had met.

As Zangief led her over to Tapper’s, the woman spoke up once again. “I should probably introduce myself, I’m Audrey. Audrey Wilson.”

Zangief shot her a smile. “A pleasure, Miss Wilson.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on AO3, so I'm pretty nervous/excited. 
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions as to tags that might need to be added, feel free to let me know!


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